A Ghost Story?

J.R. Hudson

J.R. Hudson

Spirit Animal
While my wife and I were in San Francisco staying at a lovely little Bed and Breakfast called the Petit Auberge

SFO_PETI-lobby-1.jpg


Something weird happended. Each room has a gas fireplace that requires one to turn on the switch to operate. Other than that there is a small pilot light that stays burning.

We frequently slept with the windows open as we were on the second floor. One night the following incident took place.

My wife and I were asleep and she opended her eyes. About a second or two later the FIREPLACE lit up; just as it would if someone turned the switch on. My wife said "John! John! The fireplace is on." (She usually calls me Honey but I know she's serious when she calls me by my name).

I sat up and sure enough the fireplace is roaring ablaze. I got up and went over the 'lightswitch' and asked her "Did you turn it on?" She said "No, it just came on".

I checked the switch and sure enough it is in the on position. Now, there is no way anyone could have switched this on as the doors are triple bolted and we are 2 stories above the street. The switch is a firm lightswitch, meaning; it just cant 'fall' into the on position (or fall up for that matter).

The only plausible explanation is that it might be a ghost. Anyone? Also, lets here your 'ghost stories'.
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

1. you said you slept with the windows open. was there a heavy breeze that night?

2. there are sometimes timers on fireplaces. did you look to see one? did the hotel have timers right next to it?

3. maybe it was allready in the on position and you thought it was off, but finally sparked sucessfully.

4. WTF?!
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

:D

1. Always a heavy breeze there but not enough to FLIP THE SWITCH up.

2. NO TIMERS, NO THERMOSTAT, NO TEMP CONTROL

3. NO NO NO it was OFF

4. WTF is right. My wife swears up and down that she opened her eyes and 2 seconds later it just 'WENT ABLAZE'
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

im still going with the timer thing. call the hotel and ask if they have timers for their fireplaces.
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

[quote author=John Hudson link=board=Offtopic;num=1088889910;start=0#7 date=07/03/04 at 18:52:29]I like to think Ghost.  Its more exciting.  [/quote]

Indeed.

Well here is my ghost story. 7 or so years ago I was asleep on my couch in my living room. We have a big window that the sun shines through at the top of the stairs. I was facing away from that window looking at the wall the sun shined on. I awoke to see the shadow of a man at the top of the stairs. I turned around and nobody was there. Nobody was home, either. Freaked the hell out of me.

....although I just woke up so I could have been groggy and seeing things...
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

[quote author=chi_red link=board=Offtopic;num=1088889910;start=0#9 date=07/03/04 at 19:14:29]I saw a ghost when I was about 15 years old, so I believe you.[/quote]

Tell us the story...
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

Okay -- so here's a spooky story I'm still trying to get my head around. Recently I was shooting in France. Midway through the trip we stayed in a castle built in 1168, in Cathar country. The Cathars were a religious group who were executed by the Catholic church.
In the middle of the night, my assistant and I awoke at the same moment, both experiencing a terrible pressure on our chests and feeling an irrational sense of dread. I swear to God this happened -- the wall beside D's bed began to bulge significantly. We decided to go across the hall to our friend's room and bunk with them. The door to our room never closed easily. It required a steady and firm push to shut. As we left the room, it swung free and slammed shut behind us. We spent the rest of the night sitting up with our friends, watching one wall of their room bulge, and listening to footsteps enter the courtyard beneath the window, climb the steps up the tower, and stride down the corridor. This happened each time the church bell in the village pealed on the hour.
And then there was this -- we discovered in the morning that we were locked in the castle overnight. Both the main door and the door to the gate of the surrounding wall were locked. We could not have left if we'd tried. And no staff stayed in the castle through the night!
We asked at breakfast. No one had heard footsteps or even the church bells. I admit to having had a passing thought of 'Blair Witch, the French version'
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

i liked it better when catherine zeta jones and lillie taylor did a movie called "The haunting"

nice try!
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

[quote author=PatriciaL link=board=Offtopic;num=1088889910;start=0#11 date=07/04/04 at 05:37:23]... experiencing a terrible pressure on our chests and feeling an irrational sense of dread...  [/quote]

I get this occassionally... it's a sleep disorder called sleep paralysis.
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

Though I am a huge skeptic, and do not believe unless I actually see a ghost, I have a "ghost story".

Summer of 2003 I shot a movie whose central character was essentially a big old heritage home. It is the same place I shot the short film 'Trite' that you may or may not have seen.

At the end of the long nights of shooting at this place in 2003, I was always the last one to leave set at the end of the night. It sucked because part of my agreeance of using this place was that I'd lock up the front door then leave through the basement, and turn off all the lights. This was scary enough by itself, ghost or no ghost.

We had been told that the place "may be haunted", but gave it no thought. There was an old man named Bruce who lived behind the house as caretaker, and told of us the hauntings.

On one of the nights, I was doing a last check before shutting off the lights and booking it out of there, when I heard footsteps in the attic. I was on the main floor of the house, but could clearly hear walking around on one of the floors above me. Bruce the caretaker would sometimes stroll around with his flashlight checking up on the place, so I assumed he was inside. I called out his name, and he replied. I continued to check around when the footsteps above me got louder and more frequent. Wondering what the hell Bruce was up to I walked up the stairs to the attic. As I peeked my head up into the attic I expected to see Bruce and his flashlight. But all I saw was darkness, there was no one upstairs. I very quickly ran back down and started calling for Bruce who answered again. I found him in the basement. He hadn't gone upstairs at all. This gave me a bit of a complex regarding lock up at the end of the night for the following nights of shooting, and tried to make someone from crew stay behind to help me on the following evenings.
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

[quote author=John Hudson link=board=Offtopic;num=1088889910;start=0#4 date=07/03/04 at 15:08:56]A Ghost is the only plausible explanation.[/quote]

That is one of the funniest things I've ever heard. I'm going to use that often...

A: "Did you break that?"
B: "No....... A ghost is the only plausible explanation."

A: "Who drank the last beer?!?!??"
B: "Not sure....... A ghost is the only plausible explanation."

A: "How do you start a bar fight with a scientist?"
B: "After everything he says, look him dead in the eye and proclaim, I'VE GOT IT, a ghost is the only plausible explanation."

Anyway, I'm voting for the ghost in your case JH.
 
Re: A Ghost Story?

hmmm a ghost story? I always have those really weird coincedences...like when i'm thinking of a song it comes on the radio (a song not in rotation just a random pick) or if i dream about an episode of the simpsons at night the next day it comes on (happened more than once). The porno dreams never come true though.
 
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